I know why bad things happen to good people

This is a question many people find themselves asking, especially when they see a world-acclaimed sweetheart go through an inexplicable suffering no one in the world seems capable of saving them from. In helplessness and empathy, we ask ourselves, "Oh why do bad things happen to good people?"

Mr Martins has served in the church all his life. He gives to the poor, helps the needy, is an honest man at work. His integrometer level is always 100/100. If you put water in his mouth, you come back and meet it there five years later. Mr Martins goes out with his family to a charity event. A drunk driver collides with his car. He loses his wife and three of his four children. The only surviving one is the one with Down syndrome. Mr Martins is completely paralysed, as his spine broke. Why do bad things happen to good people?

Or this true life example... Dr D K Olukoya has a deliverance ministry. Through his ministry, God has delivered people from oppression, depression, sickness, demons, legions, childlessness, poverty, spiritual manipulation of all kinds, yet this Man of God searched for a child for fifteen years. Why do bad things happen to good people?
As mysterious as this question seems, such that people have been searching for the answer like they are digging for gold in a London, a land which we all know has no natural resources, the answer is quite simple. And if we are really sincere with ourselves, we will find this to be true. Stay with me, I am going somewhere.

Why do bad things happen to good people?

First let’s dissect the question, and define some important terms in it.

What is the definition of a bad thing? Something that hurts people, make people cry, the loss of a job, the loss of a loved one, etc? What exactly qualifies for something a situation to be called bad?

What is the definition of a good person? Someone who is good? What does that even mean? He gives to the poor, does not lie, does not cheat, does not curse, goes to church/mosque regularly, tithes, gives to the less-privileged, is polite? What exactly qualifies for someone to be called good?

I will not answer the both questions for you, but I’m sure you tried to get the point I made. What we see as a bad thing might not be a bad thing, and who we see as a good person might not be a good person. It all depends on what angle you are looking at it from.

With the way many humans ask this question, I believe if we had our way, then bad things will happen to bad people, and good things will happen to good people, and that is exactly how we want God (if you believe in His existence) to play it… just the way we see it.

So if God obliged us and made bad things happen to bad people, and good things happen to good people, what would that amount to?

It basically means we can tell the future of any person. We can know who will die young, who will die old, who would lose a child (in which case both the child and the parent would have to be bad for the formula to apply), who would be falsely accused (in which case it would not count as false, since the person has to be bad), who will live a fulfilled life, who will be rich, who will be poor, etc. We can all tell the outcome of people’s life just by knowing whether they are good or bad. Soothsayers will definitely be put out of business.

Basically, we would be able to manipulate the outcome of our lives! No need for effort, no need for hard work, and surely no need for God!

And the concept of freewill will disappear like we never even heard of it before. Or tell me, who wants to live a life where only bad things happen to them? Why would you want to be an armed robber, if you can’t even rob successfully? Even armed robbers and assassins have good things happen to them… until they get caught. The outcome is that we would all be good, and we would all be walking robots.

Since we all love freewill, we all love to choose, to do things the way we want to, we will have to accept the fact that bad things are allowed to happen to good people. That is the only way it can work.

Before I continue, don't get me wrong. I am not making a case for licentiousness. We will receive the consequences of our actions. We reap what we sow, so we can't start murdering people on the street, or doing wrong to people. In this case, I am talking of random and inexplicable series of what we have termed bad things, and not consequences of choices.

If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that the below statements are true.

Bad things happen to good people
Bad things happen to bad people
Good things happen to good people
Good things happen to bad people

The reason it always seems magnified when bad things happen to good people, and not when bad things happen to bad people, is that we feel the bad people deserved the bad things that happen to them, and believe it is an injustice of destiny for good people to suffer a similar fate. But sad to say, life doesn’t always agree with us.

Therefore on no account will your conduct or your character determine whether a good thing or bad thing will happen to you. Events in life will not pick you based on your being good or bad.

That is the only way the world can run well
That is the only way freewill can work
That is the only way you will understand that you can’t always control the outcomes of life.

And there is my two cents… and if you are sincere, you know I’m speaking the truth.

P.S: I saw Ayo of 1 + The One yesterday. OMG, she is so gorgeous from head to toe, forget the picture you see. That lady is foooiiinnneee. And I am glad to say I will be seeing more of her in the next couple of months. Are you jealous yet? Lol.

100% co-sign with this post. I think it is just a knee jerk reaction that when something bad happens to those we perceive as good we tend to question the ability of God to save and deliver. But as the bible says: 'can the clay say to the potter "what are you making?" '. Situations; good or bad, happens to us to let us know that He is God and we cannot live independent of Him. It is hard but that's the truth.

Hmmm! I have never looked at it from this perspective before. This is quite insightful. The gift of freewill allows us to choose whether to be bad or good and like God said, he causes the sun to shine on both the good and the wicked but we can never escape judgement. An assurance we can have is that all things will always work together for our good and God is faithful and just so when it appears like bad things are happening to good people, I believe it's just so their testimony will be greater.www.mateyscott.com

I agree with you Ati. Another thing i think about is this; just because we "know" someone to be "good" doesn't mean they actually are. It's possible they have been bad at some point. Just because "bad" is "painful" doesn't mean it isn't sometimes deserved... a la the law of karma.

I agree with this, totally. The way Adam chose to let the world run has made this our reality, being ''good'' doesn't guarantee that life will be fair to you and doesn't make God less of the creator of the universe and doesn't make him less in charge of the universe. I think what we all need is an understanding of God's big picture and see from HIS perspective to make sense of this organized chaos we call life/world.

Between, I don't get your posts on my blog roll. Thanks to twitter I saw this.

"Rain falls on the just and the unjust" heard that as a child and so I'm rarely surprised at bad things happening to good people or vice versa. You mean Ayo is finer in the flesh?! Wow! Yes I'm jealous that you met her, very jealous.

'Obstacles are necessary for success.....victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats. Yet each struggle, each defeat, sharpens your skills and strengths, your courage and your endurance, your ability and your confidence and thus every obstacle is a comrade-in-arms forcing you to become better...or quit! Each rebuff is an opportunity to move forward;?to turn away from them, avoid them and you throw away your future' This is an excerpt from one of my fav books of all time- The Greatest Salesman in the World.

Bad things happen to all people for the same reasons: punish, teach, make better, move forward. It just depends on your current 'status' in the eyes of He who knows the end of the beginning.

This post is very spot on and also thought provoking.To add to it,i'd say just cos we feel someone is good doesn't actually make them good and vice versa.Humans have proven to fail in the aspect of knowing other humans.That's why sometimes some people are found guilty of crime and we'd be shocked to our marrows,cos we never felt they were what they were found guilty of.It is only God who is capable of knowing a human being in and out